Surefire 6P

[Rizzle]

How is the Surefire 6P as a weapon light?

[QuarterBoreGunner]

Excellent; but you absolutely need to get the shock-isolated bezel or you'll blow the bulb in less than a 100 rounds.
This piece:

http://www.opticsplanet.net/surefire-miscellaneous-z32.html

[bobfried]

Just get the 6P LED.

The incandescent bulbs could be fine or they could go out in a few hundred rounds. The Cree LED will outlast even the shock isolated incandescent setup. Lest not forget the ridiculous 12 hours run time and better light output.

[QuarterBoreGunner]

Meh, you kids and your new fangled "LEDS".
Why in my day he used to tie Coleman Lanterns to our rifles!

Seriously though, I guess I'm sill analog when it comes to lights.

[bobfried]

Meh, you kids and your new fangled "LEDS".
Why in my day he used to tie Coleman Lanterns to our rifles!

Seriously though, I guess I'm sill analog when it comes to lights.

HAHA, that's about sums up most of us:

An analog guy in a digital world.

I remember slogging through the Ozarks at 2AM with my A2 and a battle buddy with his AMAZING AN-PVS4. The only problem was that the damn thing barely worked and weighted more than the rifle it was mounted on. I had my amazing angle light with the red lens filter which I thought was the greatest flashlight ever invented by man. We went stumbling in our poncho for hours in the pouring rain that night and I'll be darn if both the PVS and my light held up just fine. To this day I still have one in my cabinet along with the road guide attachment that amazingly enough never poked me in the eye.

Matter of fact I got so nostalgic I pulled them out for a picture. The one on the left has been with me since Basic Training whilst the one on the right served with me during my last deployment a couple of years back. Both are still alive and kicking on their original bulbs:



The requisite flower prints but sorry guys, NO TOES!

[Rizzle]

How many lumen on the Cree LED?

[bobfried]

How many lumen on the Cree LED?

Straight from the mouth of babe:

http://www.surefire.com/6P-Led

Max Output: 80 lumens
Runtime: 11 hours
Length: 5.09 inches
Weight: 5.20 ounces
Battery: Two 123A lithiums

I also find that Surefire tend to underrate their LED's even more than their incandescent lights. In any case, after 11 hours it is still outputting more lumen than the regular 6P does with a fresh set of batteries.

[rkt88edmo]

There is some issue with LED output vs incandescent for how well you actually "see" using them. Some of the other CREE drop ins offer even better output.

[bombadillo]

I considered a 6p, but for the price, check out the fenix tk-11 or tk-10 light. Cree led 225 lumen max output (which may be overrated but still brighter than the 6p) Longer burn time, if you jack it up, they have a good warranty and for the light and remote tail cap, you can get it for a hundred bucks in od green or black. Just another option anyway.

[maxicon]

Straight from the mouth of babe:

http://www.surefire.com/6P-Led

Max Output: 80 lumens
Runtime: 11 hours
Length: 5.09 inches
Weight: 5.20 ounces
Battery: Two 123A lithiums

I also find that Surefire tend to underrate their LED's even more than their incandescent lights. In any case, after 11 hours it is still outputting more lumen than the regular 6P does with a fresh set of batteries.

SF is using pretty bogus marketing on their runtime for this and most lights. They really need to stop, as this is a serious blot on their corporate image.

They define their runtime this way:
So, 11 hours is how long it takes to get to 1 lumen. 1 lumen is useful for some things, but not tactically useful at all.

The 6PL puts out around 70 lumens for 3 hours, then drops steeply to below 20 lumens, and continues to drop from there for the next 8 hours.

The Malkoff M60LL drop-in has about the same output, better runtime, better heatsinking, and better color rendition (the SF P60L dropin tends to be a bit blue).

I've got a Fenix TK11 that has better color, throw, and lifetime than the SF P60L drop-in, and has the advantage of dual mode - 65 and 235 lumens - with a simple user interface. They're not up to SF quality overall, but are quite good for the money, especially if you want a lot of throw.

If you want the best quality for a reasonable price, it's hard to beat a 6P with a Malkoff drop-in of the appropriate output.

There's no reason to run anything but LED in a tac or emergency light, IMO. The reliability and runtime improvements far outweigh any color rendition issues, and you can get warm versions with slightly lower output from Malkoff if that's critical.